REPORT ON THE CURRENT SITUATION AND ......Table No. 3 Evaluation of the Sufficiency of Information Needed for the Work of a CSt Table No. 4 Evaluation of Statements in Relation to

REPORT

ON THE CURRENT SITUATION AND

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE

IN THE YEAR 2018

April 2019

© 2019 Rada pre štátnu službu / Office of the Civil Service Council You can copy, download or print this content for your own use, and you can include excerpts and data from this publication in your own documents, presentations, blogs, websites and teaching materials, provided that suitable acknowledgement of the source and copyright owner is given. All requests for public and commercial use and translation rights are to be submitted to [email protected]. Please cite this publication as: Rada pre štátnu službu (2019), Správa o stave a vývoji štátnej služby. https://radaprestatnusluzbu.vlada.gov.sk/sprava-o-stave-a-vyvoji-statnej-sluzby

RADA PRE ŠTÁTNU SLUŽBU, 2019

Acknowledgement

We wish to extend our acknowledgement to Assoc. Prof. Ing. Miriam Šebová, PhD.

and RNDr. Erika Liptáková, PhD. of the Faculty of Economics of the Technical

University in Košice and Assoc. Prof. Mgr. Katarína Staroňová, PhD. of the Faculty of

Social and Economic Sciences of Comenius University in Bratislava for their valuable

advice and comments in the data collection and evaluation. Our thanks is also due to

our former colleague - member of the Civil Service Council, Mgr. Ctibor Košťál, and all

the civil servants and service offices staff who enabled the elaboration of this report by

providing their opinions, background documents and information.

Any errors and omissions here remain the responsibility of the authors.


CONTENTS

List of Abbreviations 5

List of Tables and Charts 6

1 Main Findings and Recommendations …..…………………………….… 9

2 Methodology ....……………………………………………..………………… 21

3 Characteristics and Problems of Civil Service in the SR …….........…. 25

3.1 Legal Framework 25

3.2 Basic Information on the Civil Service 26

3.3 Attractiveness of the Civil Service 27

3.4 Problems of Civil Service in the SR 29

3.5 Politicization 31

3.6 Public Trust 33

3.7 Professionalization 33

3.8 Fluctuation 38

3.9 Corruption, Cronyism and Nepotism 40

4 Human Resources Management …...…………………..…………………. 41

4.1 Organization Vision and Disclosure 42

4.2 Motivation 46

4.3 Recruitment of Civil Servants 54

4.4 Career Development, Capacity Building and Education 65

4.5 Mentoring 78

4.6 Remuneration 79

4.7 Performance Appraisal 89

4.8 Perception of Work and Environment by Civil Servants 99

4.9 Coordination of Civil Service Management 105

5 Principles of Civil Service and Ethics in Civil Service ………….……. 107

5.1 Supervision of Compliance with Civil Service Principles 112

RADA PRE ŠTÁTNU SLUŽBU, 2019 5

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CE Code of Ethics of a civil servant

Civil Service Act No. 55/2017 Coll. on Civil Service and on Act

Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts, as amended

COLSWF Central Office of Labour, Social Welfare Affairs and Family

CS Civil Service

CSAA Central State Administration Authority

CSE Civil Service Employment

CSC, Council Civil Service Council

CSP Civil Servant Position

CSt(s) Civil Servant(s)

FD SR Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic

GO SR Government Office of the Slovak Republic

HRM Human Resources Management

ICP interdepartmental comment procedure

IPA Institute of Public Administration

IT Information Technology

LI Labour Inspectorate

MF SR Ministry of Finance Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic

NC SR National Council of the Slovak Republic

PA personal allowance

PS personal salary

RPHO Regional Public Health Office

RVFA Regional Veterinary and Food Administration

CSt(s)MP Civil Servant(s) in a managerial position

SO(s) Service Office(s)

SO SG Service Office Secretary General

SP Selection Procedure

SR Slovak Republic


LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

LIST OF TABLES Table No. 1 Distribution of SP by the number of applicants

Table No. 2 The biggest problems of CS in the SR

Table No. 3 Evaluation of the Sufficiency of Information Needed for the Work of a CSt

Table No. 4 Evaluation of Statements in Relation to the SOs

Table No. 5 Fluctuation by the SO type

Table No. 6 Publication of Annual Reports and CVs of the SOs Senior Representatives

Table No. 7 Publication of CVs of the SOs Senior Representatives

Table No. 8 Statement – The motivation to work in the CS is:

Table No. 9 Statement – What is important to acquire and stabilize high-quality people in

the CS

Table No. 10 Statement – The motivation to deliver good results and improvement depends in

my case on

Table No. 11 Statements of Selection Procedures - Civil Servants

Table No. 12 Statements of Selection Procedures – Senior Civil Servants

Table No. 13 Statement - Causes of the CSts Leaving

Table No. 14 Sufficient Capacity

Table No. 15 Missing Capacity

Table No. 16 Statement - Education Provided by the SO in Terms of … is

Table No. 17 Statement - After Completing Education

Table No. 18 CS Contact Rate with Foreign Institutions by the Type of Office

Table No. 19 Statement – Mentoring

Table No. 20 Statements on Performance Appraisals - CSt

Table No. 21 Statements on Performance Appraisals – CStMP

Table No. 22 Statement – There Exists … in Your SO

Table No. 23 Statements on Colleagues

Table No. 24 Statement on the Superior


LIST OF CHARTS

Chart No. 1 Framework international salary comparison 2014-2016, percentage difference

Chart No. 2 The biggest problems of the CS in the SR

Chart No. 3 Evaluation of sufficient information needed for the work of the CSt

Chart No. 4 Evaluation of the exchange of information among the SOs

Chart No. 5 Evaluation of statements in relation to SO

Chart No. 6 Existence and publication of a vision in the SO (long-term vision of the

organization)

Chart No. 7 Existence of vision/long-term vision of the SO

Chart No. 8 The work I do makes sense to me

Chart No. 9 In my work I fully use the knowledge, skills and competence I have acquired

Chart No. 10 Motivational factors for the work in CS

Chart No. 11 Factors for obtaining and stabilizing high-quality people in the CS

Chart No. 12 Factors on which motivation for delivering good results and improving one’s work

depends on

Chart No. 13 Satisfaction with manifestations of recognition for one’s work

Chart No. 14 The number of newly admitted CSts by the SO category

Chart No. 15 Evaluation of statements regarding the recruitment of civil servants to the civil

service and to senior positions

Chart No. 16 The most frequent reasons for terminating a civil servant's employment in a

probationary period

Chart No. 17 Perceived causes of civil servants leaving the SO

Chart No. 18 Perception of whether career advancement at the SO is based on employee

high-quality, competence and skills

Chart No. 19 Evaluation of the capacity sufficiency at the SO (question for the CStsMP)

Chart No. 20 Evaluation of the offer of education by the SO

Chart No. 21 Evaluation of statements related to practical and educational trainings passed by

the CSt’s subordinates (question for the CStsMP)

Chart No. 22 Participation in professional events in the SR and abroad

Chart No. 23 Contact with foreign institutions that are relevant to the field of work

Chart No. 24 Evaluation of statements on mentoring experiences

Chart No. 25 Total number of CSts in the relevant salary grades as on 31/12/2018

Chart No. 26 Salary grades - other CS central authorities

Chart No. 27 Salary grades - ministries, GO SR, FD SR, CO WSWA and F

Chart No. 28 Salary grades – RO PH, RVFA, Labour Inspectorates


Chart No. 29 Salary grades - prosecution offices and courts

Chart No. 30 Perception of fairness in providing optional components of position salary

Chart No. 31 Number of persons with personal salary - year 2019

Chart No. 32 Number of persons with personal salary - year 2014

Chart No. 33 Benefit of the performance appraisal from the viewpoint of the CS

Chart No. 34 Evaluation of statements on performance appraisals - CS

Chart No. 35 Contribution of performance appraisal from the evaluator's point of view

Chart No. 36 Evaluation of statements on performance appraisals - SCS

Chart No. 37 Relations and teamwork in the workplace

Chart No. 38 Level of honesty, integrity and impartiality of the CStsMP in your SO

Chart No. 39 Evaluation of statements on colleagues

Chart No. 40 Evaluation of statements on the superior

Chart No. 41 Natural authority for the CS


1. MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Civil Service Council hereby presents the Report on the current situation and

development of civil service in the year 2018 pursuant to Section 14 of Act No. 55/2017

Coll. on Civil Service and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts. As this is

the first such report, mapping of the current situation of the Slovak civil service and its

key areas is an important starting point.

There are currently no centralized civil service data available in the SR. The Civil Service

Act in its Section 25 regulates the central information system, but with some of its

provisions postponed. For this reason, it was not possible to draw any data from it,

therefore the CSC carried out two questionnaire surveys and two data collections from

the service offices, drawing the data also from other available sources. The first

questionnaire survey focused on ethics and the other generally on the perception of civil

service by civil servants, in areas such as motivation, recruitment, evaluation, education,

retirement, capacity building and career development, perception of superiors,

colleagues, and problems perceived.

Comparison and evaluation by relevant institutions is important for the evaluation of the

civil service situation in the Slovak Republic, therefore this report also tries to indicate

this aspect.

The report presents a general characterization of the civil service, identifies problems in

the CS, analyses human resources management in greater detail (e.g. motivation, CSts

recruitment, career development, capacity building, education, remuneration,

performance appraisal, perception of colleagues and superiors). In the next section, it

provides information on the CSC's supervision over compliance with the civil service

principles as well as on the activity of the CSC in the year 2018. Each chapter contains

draft recommendations based on the analysis of the data and knowledge obtained.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTIZATION OF CIVIL SERVICE IN THE SR

The civil service law is based on the Civil Service Act, which entered into force on 1

June 2017. The data from the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic for the year 2017

show that there are 38,838 civil service positions registered in Slovakia.

The State as employer differs from the private sector in many respects. Compared to

the private sector, the State provides, for example, higher job and income security, the

CSts have a shorter working time agreed, higher entitlement to paid leave and the right

to continuous education. On the other hand, there are specific limitations applicable for

civil servants, e.g. they cannot engage in business and they file asset declarations.


The Chapter Characteristics and Problems of CS in the SR describes in greater detail

the issues of the CS attractiveness, professionalization, politicization, trust and

fluctuation rate.

Civil service is a less attractive sector compared to the private sector, especially in

some of the professions and regions. Based on the data collection from the SOs, the

CSC has found out that in selection procedures for the positions in the CS prevailing are

those where the number of candidates is lower than 3 or where there had been no

interest, suggesting smaller attractiveness. According to the Revision of Expenditures,

salaries of young employees are less lagging behind, but then they are growing slower

than those in the private sector. Employees in some professions, e.g. lawyers and IT

professionals, earn significantly less than those in the private sector. International

comparisons show that CSts in the SR earn slightly less than is the EU average. The

lower attractiveness of the CS can cause a problem with the high-quality of service

provision, and if older workers are predominant in the age structure, this may indicate

problems in attracting and retaining younger employees.

Based on the problems identified, priorities and reform steps need to be identified for

the future development of the CS. The 2019 CSC Survey shows that the CSts perceive

politicization, instability, mistrust of the public, motivation of the CSts, formalism,

bureaucracy, nepotism, corruption, low professionalism, preferential treatment by

sectors, lack of credible leaders and human resources management as the biggest

problems in the civil service in the SR.

Politicization of the civil service in the SR is also considered to be one of the main

problems according to various international organizations and institutions (OECD, the

European Commission, etc.) or academics and non-governmental sector. The CSC

survey has also found out that respondents are strongly inclined to the claim that de-

politicization of the CS has a significant impact on the acquisition and stabilization of

high-quality CSts. For this reason, it will be necessary to devote more attention to

politicization, its various forms, manifestations and impacts, to clarify the borderlines

between political influence and the autonomy of the CS, to open up discussions on this

issue. It is important to evaluate the effectiveness of the relevant instruments introduced

by the Civil Service Act to eliminate politicization.

The CSC survey has identified some elements that may characterize

professionalization. The CSts consider professionalization to be a serious issue of the

CS in the SR and a factor that influences the acquisition and stabilization of high-quality

employees in the CS. According to the data obtained, there is room for improvement

even in the handling of information, the exchange of information within the SOs, but also

among the SOs. Sufficient amount and exchange of information for work is critically

evaluated by employees. The value of information and the ability to work with it

effectively is and in the future will be crucial for delivering high-quality outputs, so dealing

with them must be done at both central and SOs levels. It is also necessary to deal with

the exchange, sharing of information among the SOs, cooperation among the SOs, i.e.


preferential treatment by sectors, and the completion of the central databases and

registers of the SOs must be understood as a priority. The results of the survey and the

data obtained from the SOs suggest that the great potential for improvement, but also

the more attractive work in the CS, is in rationalization of internal processes and in

reducing bureaucracy. These areas also need to be reflected in the education of the

CSts and also to apply ethical rules and translate ethical principles into all areas of

management.

Survey results1 suggest that civil servants perceive a higher level of distrust of the

public than the citizens themselves. It would therefore be advisable to strengthen the

status of officials, self-confidence of the estate, its presentation, presentation of best

practice and devote attention to active providing of information and to communication.

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Strategic thinking and setting the mechanisms of accountability - actively disseminating information - is also important for State administration bodies. The vision defines an idea of the future thrust and position of the organization, allowing the employees to understand what their work should be heading for in their day-to-day work. However, only 34% of respondents stated in the survey that their SO had a vision and it also was published.

Basic information on the bodies and organizations are included in annual reports, most

of which are published by other CS central authorities (almost 90%), somewhat less by

organizations with regional competence (83%) and ministries (77%). In order to assess

the expertise, integrity and potential conflict of interest, as well as to assess the high-

quality and transparency of the CStsMP selection process, it is important to disclose

information from what environment senior managers have come to their

positions. Under the Civil Service Act, senior positions may be filled on the basis of

political nominations or selection procedures. Although the Civil Service Act does not

directly refer to the so-called political nominations, selection procedures are a criterion

on the basis of which it is possible to distinguish between such employees. Thus,

political nominees may be considered to be those civil servants who perform civil service

on the basis of selection procedure or appointment. The basis of the professional civil

service is with those civil servants who will start the civil service positions on the basis

of selection procedures. Disclosure of information is important for both of these CStsMP

categories. It follows from the CSC survey that the SOs only publish the CVs of their

representatives in some cases and, as a general rule, only those at the highest positions,

i.e. the political nominees (e.g. the minister, CEO, Chairman, Vice-President, SG) or

only disclose some information. CVs of the CStsMP who have passed the selection

procedure and serve in senior management positions are not published, with some

exceptions.

Only few of the SOs have developed and published their top management vision and

1 CSC Survey, 2019 and the FOCUS agency survey for the Good Civil Servant Initiative, 2018.


CVs. Therefore, it would be appropriate to focus the educational training, in particular at

the level of central State administration, on strategic management issues, including the

vision and tools of accountability of State administration and analyse the content of

annual reports.

MOTIVATION

The CSC Survey of 2019 results confirm the findings reflected in the theories of

motivation that financial motivation may not be the main motivator, but may be a factor

in demotivation.

It follows from the questionnaire that as many as 89% of respondents hold a view that

the work they do is meaningful for them, and thus the protection of the public

interest satisfies them. The answers to the open-ended questions also show that, in

addition to financial motivation, employees perceive motivation factors in wider contexts.

It is important for them to have a job that makes sense and meets the public interest, so

that they can learn and develop their respective careers in a challenging team. They

also appreciate the stability of employment and various employee benefits, but on the

other hand they would also be motivated by the removal of some problems.

Findings on what is important for CSts in recruiting and stabilizing high-quality

persons in civil service are also of interest. Respondents consider high-quality

management and professionalism of CSts as important as financial valuation. They also

attach great importance to de-politicization of civil service, flexible forms of work and the

provision of employee benefits, removing of formalism and administrative barriers.

Significant agreement also prevailed with respect to the fact that compliance with ethical

principles and the protection of whistleblowers are an important factor.

In the opinion of CSts, the motivation to deliver high-quality results is very strongly

influenced, in particular, by the meaningfulness of work, appreciation by their superior

and the formers’ inner motivation to deliver good results. Employees' motivation also

includes remuneration and other benefits, but it is not possible to label these as primary.

Employee statements show that only 53% of them are very satisfied or rather satisfied

with the manifestations of appreciation for their work.

It follows for the HRM in the Slovak civil service that it is necessary to intensively

observe and reinforce the internal motivation of employees by their being focused

on meaningful activities, explaining and communicating to them the anticipated results

and their impacts on them. Another finding is that senior managers in the CS must be

well-versed in managerial skills, including providing them a feedback, appreciating their

work results, and being an example not only professionally but also ethically for the

employees. The focus of their education should, of course, correspond to this.

The CSC requested information from the SOs on the tools they use to obtain and

maintain high-quality CSts. Their answers have shown that the SOs mainly use the

possibility of education, financial motivation, providing various benefits, rotation of


employees, good working conditions, improving the interpersonal relations, friendly

approach, good communication, individual approach, internships, entrusting demanding

tasks, participation in various projects, multi-sectional teams or talent management. The

negative fact is that a large group of the SOs do not use any incentive instruments,

or they just focus on the financial possibilities of recruiting and retaining their employees.

It is necessary to purposefully work on promoting the State sector as an attractive

employer and promoting the benefits it can provide. Although the SOs presented

insufficient remuneration as the main problem of non-attractiveness, the results indicate

that the attractiveness of the CS can be ensured not just by financial valuation, but also

by improving the management, by increasing professionalization, by adhering to ethical

rules, by de-politicization of the CS and flexible forms of work, by awarding employee

benefits and setting a red tape reduction targets.

RECRUITING OF CIVIL SERVANTS AND THEIR LEAVING THE SERVICE

In general, we recognize two systems of occupying the civil service positions: one based

on patronage (occupying positions in the CS by members and sympathizers of the

political party that won the elections) and the other based on meritocracy (the process

of recruiting and promoting civil servants based on their capabilities rather than political

affiliations). In the meritocratic system, it can be a career or positioning system, while

the human resources management system in the CS in Slovakia is perceived as rather

positional.

According to information obtained from the SOs in 2018, a total of 3,388 new CSts were recruited.

The mass selection procedure is a novelty in the Civil Service Act. Out of the total

number of newly admitted CSts, only three graduates were recruited through the mass

SP, which shows that this mechanism has hardly ever been used so far.

Although the survey respondents tend to claim that SPs are objective and professional,

they perceive that in some cases, candidates are favoured by friendly or other contacts,

or if the SP is only formal and a pre-agreed candidate has been selected or some

candidates had had previous knowledge of the questions of the written part of the

selection procedure. The CStsMP believe more in the objectivity and professionalism of

the SP than the standard civil servants.

The civil servants in a managerial position have expressed their slight agreement

with the statement that the selection process leads to the selection of the best

candidates and that the content of the test is appropriate. Their comments also included

insufficient possibilities to examine practical skills and the fact that there is formalism,

cronyism in the SP and candidates of political parties or pre-agreed candidates are

recruited. They see the obligation to execute the SP during the substitution of the CSts

on maternity leave, posting and so on as a problem.


The CSts also expressed their slight agreement with the fact that they have sufficient

number of trainings and guidance on the SP, they would welcome having more

trainings and briefings on how to conduct a personal interview and how to arrange the

administrative requirements of the SP (in particular the drawing up of the minutes,

protection of personal data). They would welcome the possibility of telephone

consultations in the event of problem situations, more guidance on emerging practical

issues and the publication of guidelines already provided so that they are available to

all the civil service offices.

CSts are also inclined to the usefulness of conducting an internal SP rather than

the external one. The CSOs perceived positively a chance to occupy the post quickly,

they negatively perceive that this obligation unnecessarily prolongs the process and

burdens them in cases where it is evident from the circumstances that it will not be

possible to fill the post via the internal SP. As a solution, they suggested leaving the

choice of whether or not the internal SP will be carried out to be decided by the SOs.

It is very important to know the reasons why employees leave the civil service. The

respondents are most likely to see the reasons for their employees leave in reaching the

retirement age and in obtaining a more attractive offer, which are factors that cannot be

significantly influenced by the SOs. They indicate that dissatisfaction with the superior

and dissatisfaction with their work may in some cases be included among the reasons

for leaving.

According to the CSC, a number of steps would have to be taken concerning the

process and content of selection procedures, e.g. the use of various forms of

publishing information on vacancies in the CS, review the administrative burden

associated with the SP, in the selection procedure it would be appropriate to include in

the point evaluation also the wording of their allocation by individual members of the

Commission and to publish the opinions given by the Government Office of the SR on

the basis of applications to be available to all of the SOs. From the point of view of

content, it would be appropriate to reassess the demandingness of the test of mastering

the Slovak language, depending on the description of the civil servant position, to

increase the scope for practical testing of applicants and to provide the members of

selection committees with the necessary training. It would also be appropriate to

examine ethics in the SP and provide selection committee members with the necessary

training in this field.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING

The CSC surveyed the view of the CSts on career development. The results of the

survey suggest that some of the elements of career development are not considered

objective by the CSts, e.g. the career path at the workplace is not always based on the

civil servant's high-quality competence and skills. Therefore, these phenomena need to

be monitored and evaluated.


The responses by the CSts and the information from the SOs show that they rather

agree with the claim that they have sufficient capacities. They lack the professional

capacities most (specific to the needs of the SO concerned), legal, technical and IT

capacities. Both the international institutions and the national experts appreciate the

formation of analytical units and the establishment of the Value for Money Unit at the

Ministry of Finance of the SR, which prepares analytical data to make decision-making

in the formation of public policies based on data and their impact. According to the CSC,

it is necessary to continue to build analytical units in accordance with the National

Reform Programme of the Slovak Republic 2018. These analytical units may help to

make decisions on the basis of knowledge of facts and possible impacts, which

knowledge contributes to professionalization of public service outputs.

EDUCATION AND MENTORING

CSts evaluate the education offered by the SOs rather positively in all the areas

examined: its quality, quantity, choice of topics and the use of knowledge learned at

work. The CSts working in the local state administration are the least appreciative to the

organization and venues of the trainings.

Even among the civil servants in a managerial position, positive evaluation of

trainings and instruction sessions prevails. They perceive the improvement in the high-

quality of outputs as moderately positive, but in some open-ended questions they

raised some critical observations, such as implementation of trainings in the capital, their

general focus, lecturers from the private sector do not know the specifics of the CS, lack

of trainings on specific professional topics, lack of financial resources for education or

high administrative burden in education.

As regards the adoption of the new Civil Service Act, the GO of the SR established the

Centre for Education and Evaluation, which is part of the Civil Service and Public

Service Section. The courses of this Centre are generally evaluated as positive.

Professional ventures in the SR and abroad are another possibility of education and

these may take various forms; in addition to educational training courses, they may

include e.g. workshops, seminars, conferences, study visits, debates, consultations with

experts, etc. However, up to 66% of respondents in the CSC survey said they did not

take part in such professional ventures. The main reason for this is that they do not

consider it important for their work, they do not have enough information on them, their

participation in professional ventures is not allowed to them by their respective service

office, or there are no funds available for that activity. According to the questionnaire

survey, the majority of the CSts do not have any contacts with institutions abroad

(e.g. partner offices, the EU, OECD, Council of Europe, EUPAN) which are relevant to

their work area. This is particularly a problem in the case of employees of ministries,

employees of other central bodies of the State administration and other bodies with

nationwide competence. The results of the survey indicate that the Slovak CSts are


quite isolated from the knowledge base and best practice both at home and abroad.

In a global environment, it is equally important to know the trends and future challenges

facing the civil service. The CSC proposes to increase the awareness of the CSts on

professional ventures in the SR and abroad, to make available the materials and outputs

of international organizations dealing with the state administration, to map best practice

in the relevant areas, to centrally collect and disseminate information, to share

knowledge from business trips and to make available the latest knowledge regarding

civil service and their professional specialization to the CSts.

The CSC also examined in the survey how the CSts perceive mentoring as a newly

introduced institute. Respondents perceive this tool quite positively, most respondents

consider mentoring a useful or rather useful tool. A slightly less favourable evaluation

concerns the quality of the mentors, but even there a slight prevalence may be seen in

that they are at a rather sufficient level. The respondents, in their evaluation of whether

mentoring is merely formal, slightly inclined to a positive opinion, and are of the opinion

that optimal conditions are not created for mentoring.

The setting of the education system is perceived by CSts, CStsMP and SOs quite

positively. Opinions from the CSC survey provide good feedback on how to improve the

education system in terms of content and implementation. Its content should reflect the

needs of the SOs, but should also include new trends and problem areas, e.g. training

in the Education and Evaluation Centre should be extended to ethics, motivation,

strategic thinking and accountability mechanisms. The CSC proposes the following in

the field of education:

reviewing formal requirements and bureaucracy associated with education,

using the information that is even being collected and evaluated about education

at present,

coordinating the evaluation of education by service offices, consider setting up

an information system to facilitate the work with evaluation questionnaires;

coordinating and methodically modifying the evaluation of education in the form

of evaluation reports by the SOs,

sharing best practice among service offices and using the evaluation report tool as part of the strategic management and development of human resources,

developing closer cooperation between the SOs and universities or educational

institutions, which will make it possible to benefit from the theoretical knowledge

of academic institutions and will also help in career development and increasing

the expertise of the CSts during employment; on the other hand, making more

use of the expertise of high-quality CSts to transfer knowledge and practical

knowledge to the academic environment and the process of educating the

prospective CSts.


REMUNERATION

There are several problems perceived in the system of remuneration in the Slovak

Republic, e.g. complexity and unpredictability, low vertical salary compression, which is

offset by a high number of allowances, in most cases it does not fulfil its purpose (high-

quality of service tasks) but compensates for the low level of salary grades.

In terms of salary grades, based on information from the SOs, there is a maximum

(20%) of the CSts included within the 5th grade, the least of them (3%) are in the lowest,

1st grade, and the in highest grade there are 9 of them (3%). Most of the highest-ranking

employees have other CSOAs (6%), slightly less ministries (3%).

The 2019 CSC survey suggests that 40% of the respondents consider providing an

optional component of position salary rather fair, 26% rather unfair, and a high

percentage of 33% are unable to assess it. Interestingly, the CSts operating in the CS

for a shorter period of time consider the optional component to be fairer than the CSts

who have been in the CS for a longer time period. The comparison with the 2013 results

suggests a positive trend, as the perception of employees in the evaluation the system

of providing optional salary components has improved. Nevertheless, the 2019 results

suggest that a high percentage of civil servants perceive the provision of an optional

salary component as unfair and the civil servants still lack sufficient information and

justification to provide non-claimable salary components. It is prevailingly believed that

the results of the performance appraisal are very little reflected in the financial reward.

It has been found out from the findings of the CSC according to the data provided by

173 SOs, that the personal salary in 2018 was used by 25 SOs, 289 CSts were granted

it, out of whom 194 were the CStsMP. The CSC also investigated the reasons for

granting a personal salary; a general claim of most of the SOs is that it was granted for

performing extremely demanding tasks. Those SOs that have provided more specific

reasoning have conceptual or managing activities, implementation and drawing of the

EU funds, public procurement, communication and marketing, nationwide competence

of the institution, impossibility of recruiting the necessary expert for the tariff salary. In

three cases, the SOs stated that it was in the case of the SO Secretary-General.

The data provided by the CSS indicate that the average remuneration is less than 12%

of the staff salary budget.

Based on the above remuneration findings, an analysis and reform of the

remuneration system appears necessary according to the CSC. For a good set-up of

the reward system, data on motivation and reward is needed, which is little available in

the SR. The data is also unavailable in several other categories monitored by the OECD.

At present, the GO SR is working on the Concept of Remuneration in the CS and will

carry out the data collection, analysis of remuneration, application of non-financial

elements of motivation in practice and analysis of remuneration in the selected EU

countries.


PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

The 2019 CSC survey suggests that respondents rather agreed to the statements that

they had known what they should have expected from the performance appraisal; it

would be advisable to carry out an evaluation of superiors by the CSts, the supervisors

were prepared for the appraisal interview, that the appraisal was objective and received

feedback on the work. The CSts did not incline either to agree or disagree with the

notions that the performance appraisal allowed them to better understand their strengths

and weaknesses, to know what to improve and was merely formal.

The performance appraisal is also linked to the CSts salary conditions. In the CSC 2019

survey they rather disagreed with the statement that the results of the evaluation had

had an impact on their financial reward and on the setting of their development and

education.

The respondents agreed with the view that it would be advisable to make the

performance appraisal of the superiors by the subordinates. A closer sorting shows that

the CSts would more welcome the performance appraisal of the CStsMP, less so the

CStsMP themselves.

The majority of the CSts believe that performance appraisal was for them inefficient

or little beneficial. The data suggests that the new system is not fully accepted by the

CSts, it will need to be further developed and the reasons for its introduction and the

expectations associated with it should be communicated in a better way.

An interesting finding is that even in the case of the CStsMP, the opinion is only slightly

prevalent (40%) that performance appraisals are beneficial, 30% of them consider them

ineffective, and 30% are neutral. Rather, the CStsMP rather agreed to be able to conduct

an performance appraisal interview, give feedback to the employees, performance

appraisal rules and the related forms were understandable and they themselves have

been trained appropriately. They rather disagreed that they had been afraid to give

negative appraisals, had to take into account the financial resources of the respective

SO, were receiving guidance from their supervisors on what kind of appraisal to award.

The basic prerequisite for success in performance appraisal is the belief of both

managers and the CSts being appraised that it was a beneficial, meaningful and

functional tool. As it is a newly introduced method of performance appraisal, it is

important to believe in the benefits and functionality of this tool. On the other hand, a

negative appraisal may indicate a disagreement with its implementation or a mistrust of

change.

The data mapping the level of satisfaction of evaluators and those being evaluated as

obtained by the CSC may be useful in evaluating the newly introduced method of

performance appraisal and its improvement. However, the evaluation system will need

to be analysed in greater detail.

The CSC proposes to add in the performance appraisal, in addition to the score, the

verbal reasoning of the points awarded within each area evaluated, and in a written

evaluation of the performance appraisal to inform the civil servant of the possibility to


comment on the performance appraisal result. In the evaluation of professional

knowledge, it recommends to build on the high-quality and professionalism of the

performance of the service tasks according to the description of the civil service post

and the service tasks assigned and not to focus on compliance with laws, internal

regulations and the like.

PERCEPTION OF WORK AND THE ENVIRONMENT BY THE CSts

The 2019 CSC survey shows that the majority of respondents regard workplace

relationships at the workplace and teamwork as good. The results suggest a rather

positive perception of colleagues in terms of friendliness, interest in education or

expertise. The low level of consent was cited by the CSts in the statement that their

colleagues were moral models for them.

There is a slightly positive evaluation of superiors, but the results show that there

are margins in improving the management and leadership of the public administration

staff. Employees perceive less favourably their superiors as moral authorities and as

natural authorities. This suggests a need for more attention to leadership and ethics

issues. In this context, it is positive that the GO SR is currently developing a Concept

of Leadership Implementation and Development, in which it will collect the data and

analyse the data.

Only 59% of respondents believe that the level of honesty, integrity and impartiality of

senior civil servants is high. A comparison of the results with the 2013 survey suggests

a slight improvement in the perception of this aspect, but the results also indicate that

the level of integrity, honesty and impartiality needs to be further increased and that

much more attention needs to be paid to issues of integrity and ethics.

Several results from the CSC survey in the year 2019 and their comparison with the

2013 survey results show that there emerges a positive shift in the HR management

(e.g. in education, developing analytical capacities, perception of workplace

relationships and teamwork).

Although a moderately positive evaluation of superiors prevails, the results show that

there are margins in improving management and leadership of people in civil service.

There will be a need to further professionalize the HR management, address motivation,

career development, assess work quality, reward, and provide a feedback.

According to the perception of the CSts, who expressed themselves in the 2019 survey,

there are occasional cases of patronage, corruption and rarer cases of discrimination,

sexual harassment and bullying in the service offices. It is important, therefore, that the

CSts know exactly who they should contact in such cases and how they should proceed.

It is also necessary to systematically address formalism and bureaucracy, to assess

whether all the formal requirements are still needed and to use best practice.


2. METHODOLOGY

METHODOLOGICAL NOTES

In drafting the 2018 situation and development of the civil service in the SR report, the

Council relied on its own data and those from external sources, with available older

data used in the absence of the current data related to 2018.2 In carrying out research

and use of the data it has been shown how important it is to build a central database of

civil service data for the future.

OUR OWN SOURCES OF DATA

Our own sources included two questionnaire surveys, one carried out in 2018 and the

other one in 2019, as well as collections of data from the service offices.

The questionnaire collection for the Code of Ethics of the Civil Servant was carried out

in May and June 2018 and was completed by 5,828 respondents, representing 15% of

all the civil servants in the SR. Due to the voluntary nature of the questionnaire, the

sample may have been distorted by the fact that the questionnaire was usually filled by

more active and willing employees.

In 2018, data was collected from the Service Offices3 which provided basic information

on their previous experience in the field of ethics.

The questionnaire survey of the Civil Service Council was again carried out in January

and February 2019. 6,218 respondents provided their answers. This represents 16% of

all the civil servants in the Slovak Republic, while the questionnaire results in the same

distortion as the 2018 questionnaire.

The second collection of data from the Service Offices took place in February 2019, with

173 out of the 216 Service Offices responding (80%). It should therefore be borne in

mind that the Council was unable to work with full data and this should also be taken

into account when interpreting the results.

QUESTIONNAIRE COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION METHODS

The Council used the Google Forms platform for all the data collections. Its advantage

was in its being free of charge, the ability to export the data to Excel files and intuitive

use. Both questionnaires for civil servants (2018 and 2019) were distributed through

Service Offices.

The Council also used informal sources (e.g., professional associations such as the

Civil servant of Good Will, Good civil servant) and other organisations or trade networks

2 Provided that these data were considered relevant. 3 Replies to the Council were provided by 50 Service Offices.


(trade unions, personal contact networks) to distributing the questionnaire, and it was

also distributed via subscribers to the Council Newsletter.

Subsequently, the Council contacted all the SOs by telephone and verified whether the

questionnaire was distributed among the CSts. In cases where this was not the case, it

provided for the re-sending of the questionnaire to the Service Office and its further

distribution.

The advantage was that if the SO had a contact network (e.g. an email for all the

employees) through which it addressed all its civil servants if necessary. This method

was more effective and less demanding on the human resources used than the

transmission through the relevant management levels.

FILLING IN THE QUESTIONNAIRES AND QUALITY OF THE DATA OBTAINED

Questionnaires for civil servants were anonymous, the Council only had the time stamp

for sending their responses for each respondent as the sole identifier.

In the case of the questionnaire for the SOs, the so-called “Hotline”, i.e. the appointment

of an employee of the Office of the Council after sending out a questionnaire by resolving

the methodology, trouble shooting and answering questions and uncertainties by the

SO.

EVALUATION OF DATA FROM QUESTIONNAIRES

In the case of the questions whose answers were graded according to the Likert Scale,4

the central tendency measures were used as indicators, specifically the arithmetic

mean of the question and the median. The median was used as indicator because,

unlike the arithmetic mean, it is not subject to skewness. Likewise, the median is less

affected by extreme values at one or the other end of the scale. The advantage of the

arithmetic mean is that, with respect to decimal precision, it allows one to rank responses

to multi-level questions by importance, such as the degree of agreement with multiple

statements pertaining to the same subject.

In the case of demographic characteristics, under which we understand the differences

between the individual demographic groups that the Council identified in the

questionnaire (service office, sex, region, status, duration of experience in the CS, age),

a non-parametric one-factor analysis of variance was performed (Kruskal-Wallis Test5).

The hypothesis tested was that there were no statistically significant differences in the

responses to the question within the demographic groups, which means that

respondents from different demographic groups commented on the subject matter in the

approximately same way.

4 This is a numerical axis, on which the figures show different views from the overall consent to total disagreement. 5 This is an extension of the Mann-Whitney U-test to more than two independent selections, a nonparametric H0 hypothesis test: "All selections come from the same distribution, or from distributions with identical distribution

functions.”


Kruskal-Wallis test procedure:

All of the answers to the question are sorted from the smallest to the largest ones,

assigned to the order, divided into different demographic groups, and the average

ranked for each demographic group is calculated. Assuming the validity of the H0, the

average of the order of each demographic group should not differ significantly. From the

test results (at a significance level of α = 0.05), these differences between the mean

values6 are considered statistically significant:

office - difference in average values of 400 or more,

region - difference in average values of 400 or more,

gender - the difference in average values is 250 or more,

status - difference in average values of 250 or more,

duration of experience - difference in average values of 500 or more,

age - the difference in average values is 400 or more.

EXTERNAL RESOURCES DATA IN THE SR

The Council also based its information on previous surveys and materials, such as: the

document Civil Service in 2013 of the Government Office of the SR and Strategy for

Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020 of the Government

Office of the SR. The audit at the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic is also a

valuable source of data on the CS in which the number of CSts is surveyed periodically

for budget purposes. The latest available inventory comes from May 2017 and until the

start of personnel information systems at the central level, the data is the main source

of information on staffing levels in the State administration.

EXTERNAL RESOURCES DATA FROM ABROAD

The CSC drew on the data and publications from international institutions, such as the

OECD and the European Commission.

6 The 2019 Civil Servant Questionnaire, questions No. 1.1, 1.3, 1.6, 1.5, 1.4, 1.7. Available online::

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-3UYZ66e3-OJqNd-UU5j-

k55xOdL9ckpqlcp54C73djr3Hg/viewform?usp=sf_link

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-3UYZ66e3-OJqNd-UU5j-k55xOdL9ckpqlcp54C73djr3Hg/viewform?usp=sf_linkhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd-3UYZ66e3-OJqNd-UU5j-k55xOdL9ckpqlcp54C73djr3Hg/viewform?usp=sf_link


3. CHARACTERISTICS AND PROBLEMS OF CIVIL

SERVICE IN THE SR

3.1 LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Civil service is an indispensable and essential part of the State organization of society.

Its social function is determined by the functions and tasks of the State provided by its

civil servants. The Civil Service as a legal institute is a summary of legal regulations

governing the status of civil servants - the establishment, course and termination of legal

relationships in the civil service, the rights, duties and responsibilities of civil servants.

Civil servants are involved in providing functions and tasks of the State, i.e. acting on

behalf or in charge of the State, performing executive and decision-making activities.

The Civil Service Act is the basis of the civil service legislation which entered into force

on 1 June 2017 (some of its provisions came into force at a later date), the legislation is

also based on the Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for

2015-2020 approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic.7

The civil service is built on the principles that govern civil servants in the performance

of civil service and service offices in the decision-making in civil servant relations. The

principles of the CS create a value framework and bases for the application of specific

provisions of the Civil Service Act. This law is built on the principles of political

neutrality, legality, transparent employment, effective governance, impartiality,

professionalism, transparent and equal pay, stability and equal treatment.

The Civil Service Act introduced a number of new measures in order to increase the

independence of the civil service in the Slovak Republic as well as to fulfil the

recommendations of the European Commission regarding the public administration

reform.

The relations that arise in the execution of the civil service by civil servants are described

as civil service relations. Their content consists of the rights and obligations of the civil

service aimed at fulfilling the tasks of the State authority in the execution of the State

administration or to fulfil the tasks of another State authority in the execution of State

affairs. The State represented by the service office is the employer in both of these

cases.

The civil service relationships are not only governed by the Civil Service Act, but in cases

where the Civil Service Act provides for it, the Labour Code and the servants perform

the CS exclusively under the Civil Service Act. Due to the special status of the exercise

of State power in a certain area, there are civil servants on whom the Civil Service Act

applies only if a special regulation does not provide otherwise. Thus, in the present case,

the Civil Service Act is subsidiary.8 In the case of another group of civil servants, any

7 Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020. Government Office of the Slovak

Republic, adopted by Resolution of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 548/2015 of 7 October 2015. 8 Such CSts are court clerks, foreign service officers, candidate prosecutors' lawyers and prosecutors' assistants.


scope of the Civil Service Act is completely excluded, as their legal status is governed

by specific legal rules.9

3.2 BASIC INFORMATION ON THE CIVIL SERVICE

According to data from the Ministry of Finance of the SR (2017), 38,838 civil-service

jobs are registered in the SR10 In 2014, there were 37,441 civil servants in the CSAA

of the Slovak Republic, including subordinate organizations.11

In the SR, there exist no basic data that would characterize the CS in greater detail,

e.g. the composition of civil servants by age, sex and education. According to the

Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020, these

data are not processed in personnel information systems and must therefore be handled

separately by the Personnel Offices. The result is a lack of uniform registration practice

and a non-existent centralized overview of employee age structure. The central

information system is gradually being built, but some of the key registers will not be

created until 2020.12 Therefore, we will at least try to indicate these characteristics from

the available resources, or the data for the public sector and those available earlier.

The State as an employer differs from the private sector in many respects. The former

provides e.g. higher job security and income, shorter working hours and higher

entitlement to paid leave than private sector employees. On the other hand, employees

in the CS have restrictions, e.g. they are not allowed to do business, to carry out gainful

activities identical or similar to the description of their CS positions and they file asset

declarations.

The public sector in the SR employs a slightly smaller number of employees than the

EU average. In 2017, 413 thousand employees worked for the State, including the self-

governing bodies. One-third of them work in education, one-tenth in health care, one-

tenth are civil servants employed in the CS.13

The public sector is aging faster than the private sector, with almost a third of public

employees will be at retirement age in 10 years. The public sector has a problem of

attracting and retaining young employees.14 A small proportion of young employees is a

risk factor because it limits the possibilities to ensure continuity and recovery, it may

9 This is the performance of the CS by members of the Police Force, the Slovak Information Service, the National

Security Office, the Prison and Judicial Corps, the Fire and Rescue Service, the Mountain Rescue Service, customs

and professional soldiers. 10 Number of CSts according to the Pay Inventory of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic (5/2017,

Appendix šs-4), without employees carrying out CS in foreign countries. 11 Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020, adopted by the Government

Resolution No. 548/2015 of 7 October 2015, p. 15. 12 Act No. 55/2017 establishes the Central Information System, but the various registers that are part of it have

different effectiveness - e.g. Register of Civil Servants and Register of Civil Servant Positions as late as in January

2020. 13 Revision of Employment and Remuneration Expenditure in Public Administration, Interim Report. Ministry of

Finance, December 2018, p. 12 14 Revision of Employment and Remuneration Expenditure in Public Administration, Interim Report. Ministry of

Finance, December 2018, p. 37.


also be a sign of the low attractiveness of the public sector as an employer.15 The OECD

countries, for which data is available, have on average a higher number of over 55 year-

old employees than those under 34 years of age. This can also be illustrated by the

example of neighbouring countries: 31.7% of employees in Poland are over 50 years

old16 and in the Czech Republic there are 53% of employees older than 45 years.17

Women account for more than two thirds of employees in the public sector.18 The Slovak

Republic has the third highest share of them (68%), preceded by Poland (69%) and

Hungary (72%) among OECD countries. A higher proportion of women may be due to

better conditions for women to work. In the central State administration, 16 OECD

countries offer more childcare and family benefits than the private sector.19

3.3 ATTRACTIVENESS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE

In order to assess the attractiveness of the CS, we will try to use the results of the CSC

2019 survey and the findings in relation to the public sector to which the civil service is

part.

CSC SURVEY 2019

The figure that may indicate lower attractiveness of the civil service is the vacancy of

budgeted positions. The reason for this may be, besides the unattractiveness of the

work, the exaggerated need for the number of employees. Therefore, the CSC has

determined the interest in participating in selection procedures. Table No. 1 provides

information that the CSC obtained from the SOs in 2019:

Table No. 1 (distribution of SP according to the number of applicants. Source:

Collection of the CSC Data from the Service Offices)

To the CSt

position To the CStMP

position

Total number of SPs 5 833 415

Number of SPs with over 10 applicants 170 (2.9%) 2 (0.5 %)

Number of SPs with less than three applicants 3,272 (56%) 376 (90.6%)

Number of SPs without applicants 2,391 (40.9%) 37 (8%)

15 Government at a Glance 2017. OECD, 2017, p. 94. Available online:

https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/government-at-a-glance-2017_gov_glance-2017-en#page117 16 Civil Service in Numbers. Kancelaria Prezesa Rady Ministrów RP, 2013. Available online: https://dsc.kprm.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/civil_service_in_numbers_draft.pdf 17 Annual Report on the Civil Service for 2017. Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, 2017. Available online: https://www.mvcr.cz/sluzba/clanek/statni-sluzba.aspx 18 Revision of Employment and Remuneration Expenditures in Public Administration, Interim Report, Ministry of

Finance of the Slovak Republic, December 2018, p. 41. 19 Government at a Glance 2017. OECD, 2017. Available online:

https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/government-at-a-glance-2017_gov_glance-2017-en#page1

https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/government-at-a-glance-2017_gov_glance-2017-en#page117https://dsc.kprm.gov.pl/sites/default/files/pliki/civil_service_in_numbers_draft.pdfhttps://www.mvcr.cz/sluzba/clanek/statni-sluzba.aspxhttps://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/governance/government-at-a-glance-2017_gov_glance-2017-en#page1


The data obtained from the SOs indicate that the selection procedures involving more

than 10 candidates are the smallest in number, less than 3%. On the contrary, those

SPs prevail, where the number of candidates was lower than 3, or where there was no

interest shown in the positions in the CS at all. When applying for the positions of SCSs,

the selection procedures with less than 3 candidates prevail.

In their comments passed on the selection procedures, civil servants in a managerial

position have often reported a low number of candidates and a statement that pretty

often not make a selection but rather recruitment is made to obtain any CS at all,

especially for specialized positions like IT expert or lawyer. As a reason they see the

fact that the offer cannot compete with the private sector or that there is no interest in

working in the CS at the regional level for a salary offered and it is difficult to attract

young people.

MF SR FINDINGS IN THE EXPENDITURE REVISION

The revision of expenditure20 has produced interesting findings, which speak of the

attractiveness of the public sector in the SR. Although not specifically specified for the

civil service, they are similar to those revealed by the CSC. The differences in

remuneration are noticeable in terms of relevant professions, especially the salaries of

public sector employees in expensive professions (e.g. lawyers, finance and IT

employees) are considerably lagging behind. The public sector is financially unattractive

to employees during most of their productive age.

The relatively egalitarian system of remuneration in public administration, combined with

large regional disparities in the Slovak economy, creates large disparities in income

between the private and public sectors in some regions. The lower attractiveness is also

evidenced by the fact that employees earn more than otherwise when switching from

the public to the private sector.

The international comparison shows that, according to the Chart data, civil servants

earn slightly less than is the EU average:

20 Revision of Employment and Remuneration Expenditure in Public Administration, Interim Report. Ministry of

Finance, 2018.


Chart No. 1 (Framework International Wage Comparison, 2014-2016, Percentage Difference. Source: Revision of Employment and Remuneration Expenditure in

Public Administration)

If the work in the civil service is less attractive, it can cause a problem with high-quality service delivery. If older workers predominate in the age structure, this may indicate difficulties in attracting and retaining younger employees. The low proportion of young employees may also be associated with less flexible remuneration rules.

3.4 PROBLEMS OF CIVIL SERVICE IN THE SR

It is important to know the current state of affairs and problems of the CS in the SR and how it is perceived by the CSts themselves and what the position of the SR is compared to other countries.

In the 2019 survey, the Council investigated what the civil servants consider the biggest problems of the CS in Slovakia; the respondents could choose a maximum of 3 options:

Chart No. 2 (Source: CSC Questionnaire for Civil Servants, 2019)

-40% -30% -20% -10% 0% 10% 20% 30%

teachers in regional schools

social services

nurses in hospitals

firefighters

doctors in hospitals

university teachers

customs officers

civil servants

policemen

judges

prosecutors

internationalcomparisoncomparison withCzech Republic

5000

3476

2543 2515 1981

1391 1485 1327 835 765

1093 1174

0

political influence and instability nepotism low professionalism negative perception of the CS, public distrust formalism and bureaucracy

corruption cronyism human resource management credible leadership motivation is lacking


Therefore, the respondents consider the following to be the biggest problems in the civil service in the SR:

Table No. 2 (Source: CSC Questionnaire for Civil Servants)

Problem Percentage

of respondents

politicization and instability 56%

negative perception of the CS, distrust of the public 41%

motivation of the CSts 40%

formalism and bureaucracy 32%

nepotism 24%

corruption 22%

low professionalism 21%

preferential treatment by sectors 19%

lack of trusted leaders 18%

cronyism 13%

human resources management 12%

For more information on motivation, HRM, formalism, bureaucracy and leadership, see Chapter 4.

INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS21

The European Commission has for long been critical about the low efficiency of public

institutions in the SR, and the improvement of public administration was a part of its

recommendations for the SR every year in the period of 2011-2018. As positive, the

European Commission perceives legislation, including the Civil Service Act,

however, insufficient implementation and weak institutions remains its problem. In

its recommendations for the SR, it also criticizes insufficient management of human

resources in public administration, nepotism and the lack of cooperation among the

ministries, and also political nominations, especially in the regulatory authorities. In its

2019 Report, the European Commission notes that improvements have been made to

human resources management and lack of analytical capacity in the public service.22

The international institutions (the European Commission, OECD, IMF) perceive the

establishment of analytical institutes, e.g. the Value for Money unit as a positive

trait.23

21 As a rule, there is no distinction between civil service and public service in international comparisons. 22 Report on Slovakia 2019. European Commission, 2019. Available online:

https://ec.europa.eu/slovakia/sites/slovakia/files/sprava_o_slovensku_2019_1.pdf 23 Report. Seminar: How do international organizations evaluate Slovakia? Available online:

https://www.szz.sk/images/dokumenty/Sprava_Seminar-Ako_medzinarodne_organizacie_hodnotia_Slovensko.pdf

https://ec.europa.eu/slovakia/sites/slovakia/files/sprava_o_slovensku_2019_1.pdfhttp://www.szz.sk/images/dokumenty/Sprava_Seminar-Ako_medzinarodne_organizacie_hodnotia_Slovensko.pdf


3.5 POLITICIZATION

Politicization is often identified as one of the main obstacles to the professionalization

of civil service.24 In this context, politicization of the CS is understood to be a service

office decision based on political grounds.25 G. Peters defines politicization as replacing

the merit criteria (merit system) by political criteria in the CS management positions,

such as selection, career advancement, remuneration, sanctioning and termination of

the CS.26 According to L. Rouban, politicization "means that it is not just a civil servant's

activity, but also that his/her career depends more on political than on professional

norms and standards."27

The impacts of politicization may mean that those who have party connections get their

jobs in CS at the expense of those who do not have them even though they are experts.

However, it is necessary to distinguish types of politicization and their different impacts

on the high-quality of state administration. G. Peters distinguishes politicization:

Functional, professional, where the posts are occupied by professionals who

share with political leaders similar values;

Legal, in which public sector posts are occupied by politicians without formalized

selection procedures, this being a legal procedure;

Patronage, where the posts are occupied on the basis of party affiliation with no

guarantee of expertise;

Anticipatory, where the decision of the civil servants to leave the post after the

government is replaced by another one is the case in point because they think

the new government will be ideological.28

Therefore, it is not easy to say that any decision by politicians to fill a post in the CS is negative, e.g. in functional politicization.

A survey of the Government Office of the SR of 201329 identified some politicization

factors through several questions. Approximately the equal number of respondents

agreed (41%) and disagreed (42%) claiming that their workplace is able to transparently

recruit the fittest candidates. An opinion prevailed among the respondents (43%) that

jobseekers with connections to government coalition political parties have unfair benefits

(19% no, rather not, 40% don't know). The 2013 results indicate a very high level of

perceived politicization.

24 Professionalism and Ethics in Public Service: Issues and Practices in Selected Regions, United Nations

Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ST/ESO/PAD/SER.E/5, 2000. 25 Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020. Government Office of the Slovak Republic, 2015. 26 In: Staroňová K., Staňová Ľ., Sičáková-Beblavá E .: Public Service Systems. Concepts and trends. Comenius University in Bratislava, 2014. 27 Rouban L.: Politicization of the Public Service, 2003. In: Peters G., Pierre J. (eds.): Handbook of Public

Administration. London, SOGE Publications Ltd., p. 313. In: Prachárová V., Kačur, J .: Employee Fluctuation rate

and New Civil Service Act in the Context of State Administration. SGI, 2018, p. 3. 28 Peters G.: The Politics of Bureaucracy. London, 2010. 29 Civil Service in 2013. Government Office of the Slovak Republic, 2013.


The SR Act on Civil Service was a response to the findings on perceived politicization

of the civil service, which enshrined political neutrality and stability among the

principles of the civil service, it introduced important changes, abolishing, inter alia, the

possibility of dismissing the senior civil servant without stating a reason, setting the

criteria and processes for selection procedures and establishing the CSC. These

measures will need to be evaluated and their application monitored and results

delivered. Among other things, it is necessary to monitor whether the organizational

changes that would artificially increase the number of CStsMP posts in an attempt to fix

them in the positions after the change of government will not be implemented in the SOs

before the elections.

The ECS 2019 survey examined some aspects of politicization or the related areas:

When evaluating what the respondents consider to be the biggest problem of

civil service in the SR, most of them (56%) reported political influence and

instability.

A significant number of respondents consider de-politicizing the civil service to be

a factor that would attract and stabilize high-quality people in the CS (4,431

yes, 1,095 rather yes). At the centre of Likert's scale 3, the average value of the

statement was 4.6, which indicates a strong consensus of CSts on this claim.

Indications of non-meritocratic practices are shown by the results of the

recruitment questionnaire in the evaluation of employees recruitment.30

The results of the 2019 questionnaire survey suggest that politicization still remains a

problem for the Slovak civil service and will need to be further addressed.

Professionalization of civil service requires a clear distinction between political and

apolitical positions.31

Politicization of civil service in the SR is considered one of the major problems, not

just by various international organizations and institutions (OECD, the European

Commission, etc.) but also by expert studies.32

In the SR, especially after the replacement of minister exchanges occur in managerial

positions; the likelihood that the CStsMP will be replaced at this stage is 4.5 times higher

than in the later period.33 The main reason for the replacement of CStsMP is not so much

political ties as rather mistrust of the new minister in the ability and integrity of the

CStsMP.34

30 For details see chapter 4.3, Recruitment of civil servants. 31 Staroňová K., Staňová Ľ., Jajcayová Z .: Innovative Elements in Civil Service Reform. In: Slovakia, Research

Paper 5/2013, Association for International Affairs and Pontis Foundation, 2013, p. 20. 32 E.g.: A Comparative Overview of Public Administration Characteristics and Performance in EU28, 2017, p.28.

Prachárová V., Kačur J.: Employee Fluctuation Rate and New Civil Service Act in the Context of State

Administration. SGI, 2018. Staroňová K., Staňová Ľ., Sičáková-Beblavá E .: Civil service Systems. Concepts and

trends. Comenius University in Bratislava, 2014. 33 Staroňová K., Rybař, M.: Ministerial or Party Roots of Civil Service Patronage? Evidence from a Parliamentary

Democracy, 2019. 34 Staroňová K., Rybař M .: Ministerial or Party Roots of Civil Service Patronage? Evidence from a Parliamentary

Democracy, 2019.


According to several authors, the system of political nomination of the secretaries-

general of the service offices in the SR, who are in charge of managing human resources

and at the same time being politically nominated, means that they may pursue the

political interests in the CS hierarchy.35

Politicization may also manifest itself in the end of civil service by organizational

changes, especially after the replacement of government after elections. In such cases,

objective and politically unbiased investigation through an independent institution, which

is the Council in the Slovak Republic, is of particular importance.

3.6 PUBLIC TRUST

Civil servants represent the fulfilment of public interest for citizens, so it is very important

for citizens to trust that this is really happening.

The CSC 2019 survey investigated what the CSts considered the biggest problems in

the civil service in the SR. Up to 41% of respondents considered the negative

perception of the CS and the public mistrust as the most serious problem.

In September 2018, a representative opinion poll for the Good Officer was carried out

by FOCUS agency on a sample of 1,015 respondents. The results show that over half

of the respondents (60%) in general trust officials, of whom 6% fully and 54% rather

trust. Those who trust officials have indicated their desire to help, willingness to advise,

professionalism and positive experience as the main reasons for trust. In general, 37%

of respondents have a distrust of officials (27% rather do not trust, 10% do not trust at

all). The most frequent reasons for mistrust included reluctance, lack of interest (24%),

arrogance (18%), corruption and nepotism (15%) and unprofessionalism (14%).

Respondents from large cities over 50,000 people declared above-average distrust of

officials.

The survey also examined citizens' opinion on the impact of State and public officials on

the lives of respondents. About a half of them said officials had a rather large or very

large impact on their lives. It is interesting to note that the residents of big cities have

very often said that officials have a relatively large impact on their own lives.

The survey results indicate that civil servants perceive a higher level of distrust of the

public in the public service than the citizens themselves.

3.7 PROFESSIONALIZATION

Professionalism of the civil service is associated with professional or meritocratic

elements; according to some authors, meritocratic is synonymous with

professionalism.36 According to Van der Meer, professionalism is most often used to

35 For details see Staroňová K., Staňová Ľ., Sičáková-Beblavá E .: Civil Service Systems. Concepts and trends.

Comenius University in Bratislava, 2014. p.125. 36 E.g. Van de Meer, F. M. In: Staroňová K., Staňová Ľ., Sičáková-Beblavá E.: Public Service Systems. Concepts


mean that a civil servant performs his/her tasks in an appropriate way.37 Therefore, we

should describe the anticipated behaviour by ethical codes and codes of conduct.

Professionalism of civil servants also depends on the values and principles that are

reflected in the principles of civil service, and in this respect the politicization of the CS

is often referred to as a counterpart.

In any event, the CSts should render professional performance, or as Van der Meer

states, to perform their tasks appropriately. Professionalization itself is not based solely

on the training of civil servants, but also on a clear definition of rights and responsibilities,

accountability tools, and improving standards and overall human resource

management.38

According to the Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for

2015-2020,39 "The basic mission of the CS is creating an estate of professional officials,

educated and trained with the appropriate knowledge, moral qualities and skills that they

could transform into the good management skills, who will ensure sustainable social-

welfare security for individuals, communities and the State."

The CS vision is defined as "Creating a professional civil service that will ensure the

ability of human capital to adapt to any changes arising from new economic and social

conditions in the 21st century to serve citizens in a sound and credible way.”40

It is a good basis for the SR that strategic documents and legislation emphasize the

need for professionalization. However, international comparisons and several analyses

indicate that Slovakia is lagging behind in this area. This is also reflected in the

European Commission evaluation, which, using the Professionalization Index41,

measures to what extent the state administration is more professional than political. In

2015, the SR ranked last in the index of state administration professionalism, which

represents a significant deterioration of the evaluation compared to 2012.42

The 2019 CSC Survey surveyed some of the parameters that may characterize

professionalization:

Respondents were asked to give a maximum of three issues that they consider

to be the biggest problem in their SO, while 17% of respondents reported low

professionalism. 41% considered the most serious problem to be formalism and

and Trends. Comenius University in Bratislava, 2014. 37 Van der Meer, F.M. (Ed.): Civil Service Systems in Western Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham,

2011. In: Prachárová V., Kačur J.: Employee Fluctuation rate and New Civil Service Act in the State Administration

Context. SGI, 2018, p. 3. 38 Service Act in the Context of State news. SGI, 2018. 39 Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020. Government Office of the Slovak

Republic, 2015. 40 Strategy for Human Resources Management in the civil service for 2015-2020. Government Office of the Slovak

Republic, 2015. 41 A Comparative Overview of Public Administration Characteristics and Performance in EU28. European

Commission, 2017, p. 43-44. Higher values indicate more professional performance. The value for each country is

calculated as the average of expert ratings. 42 A Comparative Overview of Public Administration Characteristics and Performance in EU28. European

Commission, 2017.


bureaucracy, 31% of political instability, as well as other issues reported by the

respondents as cronyism, nepotism and corruption.

In the survey, 32% of respondents considered formalism and bureaucracy the most serious problem of the civil service in the SR.

To gain and stabilize high-quality people in the CS, the respondents attach great

importance to professionalization. On a scale of 1-5, where 1 = no, 5 = yes and mid =

3, the average response value was very high, up to 4.8.

Organizational management systems are also important for professional performance. The 2019 survey of the CSC investigated whether the CSts had sufficient information for their work:

Chart No. 3 (CSC Questionnaire for Civil Servants, 2019)

A: I have the information on the functioning of the organization and decisions at the highest level that relate to my work and

status, B: I have the information from superiors, subordinates and colleagues needed for my work

C: I have the information on the trends in my area, how it works abroad

The following Table gives an evaluation of the sufficient information needed for the work

of the CSts on the scale of 1-5, where 1 = complete deficiency and 5 = complete

sufficiency.

Table No. 3 (Source: CSC Questionnaire for Civil Servants, 2019)

Statement – (I have) sufficient information for my work: Average

value from superiors, subordinates, and colleagues needed for my work 3.8

on the functioning of the organization and decisions at the highest level concerning my work and status 3.6

the information on the trends in my area, how it works abroad 2.96

They consider the information on the trends in their area and how it works abroad to be

slightly inadequate. There is a slight consensus prevailing that employees have

sufficient information from their superiors, subordinates and colleagues, and are less

inclined to claim that they have sufficient information on the operation of the SOs and

the highest level decisions regarding their work.

complete lack rather lack neither sufficiency nor lack rather suf. complete suf. 4000

3000 3000 2702

2000 1314 1330

1747 1654 1401

1000 876 833

542 583 187 95

0

1251 1139


Sufficient information for work is evaluated rather critically by employees. The value of

information and the ability to w

Documents

REPORT ON THE CURRENT SITUATION AND ......Table No. 3 Evaluation of the Sufficiency of Information Needed for the Work of a CSt Table No. 4 Evaluation of Statements in Relation to